You're watching...
Harvard University Economics Professor Martin Feldstein on Romney’s tax plan and the outlook for jobs.
Also in this playlist...
Auto-advance: ON
Auto-advance
This transcript is automatically generated
-- job with that.
Meanwhile sixteen trillion accounting our national debt -- that astronomical figure just two days ago for more on dealing with our nation's big financial troubles and they are many.
Harvard economics professor Martin Feldstein an advisor to the Romney campaign joining me now.
How would you respond first to this promise of creating a million new manufacturing jobs -- the comments of presence gonna make tonight in his speech can he do it.
Bode very nice if he could but I don't know of any concrete plans.
That -- put forward that would make that credible.
And unfortunately.
Manufacturing production jobs are down to about 8%.
Of the total workforce so that's about.
Ten million jobs in total.
So it's hard to see how we're gonna get another million jobs in what has been.
Well you know politics that you promise that person and people gonna ask questions later.
Recently -- -- -- not op Ed in the Wall Street Journal that I think will bear on what is discussed tonight on the floor of the DNC.
You said that Mitt Romney's tax plan which has been heavily criticized.
Is mathematically possible the fact that you can actually cut taxes and raise revenue and even get rid of some deductions house so.
Well what -- Tax Policy Center.
Report said was that.
Romney proposal to cut tax rates by 20% eliminate the alternative minimum tax and make other changes was simply.
Not possible it was not mathematically to use their term not mathematically possible to I was basically saying he wasn't telling the truth.
Throughout false and well it is false I mean that is what I showed in that Wall Street Journal piece last Wednesday.
Was that there are many ways in which you could do it.
The simplest would be eliminating.
Deductions now nobody's proposing that particular plan but that was just to show one way in which -- could happen.
Well I can tell you that that's where there is some frustration with Romney's plan we don't know what kind of deductions he's talking about getting rid out it's a mystery he talks about getting rid of some but we don't know which ones what would be likely.
Well I don't know what would be likely but remember.
The M.
Of the Bowles Simpson commission.
Talked about the fact that there -- eight trillion dollars worth.
And so called tax expenditures.
Of special features in the tax law almost all of them in the personal tax law.
So there's a lot to pick among if you're looking to do reforms.
All right I I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't ask about tomorrow's.
Jobs report we're expecting some eight point 3%.
The rate to stay there.
And and pretty disappointing jobs growth frankly -- a 120 by a thousand know it's.
Been bouncing around so the first quarter we had some pretty good numbers.
In -- 13050.
Range then it dropped dramatically in the second quarter came back in.
July so we'll get -- August number.
Now but some people are saying we could get -- very pleasant number we could get 200000 new jobs what do you say well.
I'm not gonna try to I would guess the people who are looking at detail payroll data but I think the point is.
There's a number that bounces around the line.
So while we feel good trend right and that trend has been up -- down this year the real fact is that.
We don't have enough jobs we have an economy into deep hole and isn't going anyplace -- -- other natural solution to that would be for Ben Bernanke to get involved.
-- you say anything else QE3 would be the wrong choice why.
Yeah I don't think they're natural solution is Ben Bernanke I think the Fed is done a lot.
I don't think at this point more quantitative easing is going to have any real traction on the economy -- nine.
Well we've got interest rates extremely low mortgage rates are very low companies -- -- wash and liquidity of the big ones.
The little ones have problems of getting.
Access to funds because their banks are short of capital of -- can solve that problem so this has to be dealt with by changing.
The fiscal cloud that's hanging over the economy the threat that we're gonna see a lot more high tax rates.
After this election.
Well tax -- get in this coming if they don't do something about it but.
You know if congress can get its act together to figure out where to go to lunch that would be an amazing Martin Feldstein thanks for coming on tonight it is -- we know -- measured -- see you.
